Oh, how I love a bitter, shoot-from-the-hip old queen who rules everything and therefore can get away with this kind of stuff:
Elton John: Religion creates ‘hateful lemmings’
Singer says organized religion encourages hatred of gaysLONDON - Organized religion fuels anti-gay discrimination and other forms of bias, pop star Elton John said in an interview published Saturday.
“I think religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people,” John said in the Observer newspaper’s Music Monthly Magazine. “Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays.”
“But there are so many people I know who are gay and love their religion,” he said. “From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn’t seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it’s not really compassionate.”
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I thought that position was forever held by Quentin Crisp.
I am telling you, if I ever had council with the pope, gays would be the first thing I'd talk about.
I'd be like, "Come on, guy... can all these people, some who even hold thier believe in God true to their hearts, rally be considered evil and wrong? There sure are a lot of them; are you sure you don't want to rethink this arcane and loose interpretation of Lot and the angels?" and the second thing would be: "Get off your ass and help Africa, just as Jesus would, you bastard."
...Then I'd be gently escorted out to the street and onto my ass.
But yeah, why AREN'T they having a council? Shouldn't there be some dialogue between the religious leaders, since that is the hot point of contention that sparks hatred and misunderstanding, which is plaguing the world, as we speak? And what does this fucker pope do... quote an old script that would naturally be misenterpreted and consequently further enflames the Muslims.
These Catholic church leaders act like it's business as usual. People are falling away from it by the score.
Then evict all those silk and gold swathed hypocrites from their palace of splendor and turn it into a vast worldwide FREE art gallery that encourages creativity and brotherhood.
Not the twisted, self involved political primacy that it desperately clings to today.
You have Catholics in western Europe and America who can see Pope Palpatine's hypocrisy for what it is--and who hate the attitude taken towards gays in the first place. Then you have the burgeoning congregations in the Third World, who are still too poor to keep filling the Church's coffers at the rate they expect them to be filled.
Eventually, the western congregations are going to be sick of sending tithes to the Vatican when hardly anything has been done to check the spread of priestly abuse, attitudes in the Church drift farther towards the radical right, and sexuality is still treated as something dirty. When that happens, the Church is going to start leaning hard on its surviving congregations to support it financially--only to find that much of the Third World is either abandoning the Church's positions on AIDS, gays, women's rights and abortion, or is so poverty- and illness-stricken that they need the Church's dwindling resources at a greater rate.
I do hope the Vatican collapses. It needs to do so. Perhaps then the leaders can rediscover the message of Christ, which is not that He wants the faithful to be rich, but that He wants the faithful to give their riches away to help others. Or maybe they'll simply drift away. Either one would work.
And frankly, it could happen to all organized religions. The richer the leaders get, the deeper the rot is entrenched.
--Kris
To think the modern collapse or the grand split of the Church in our time will come from people just being plain sick of their shit. I don't know of any other religion that fell by the wayside for that same reason. Usually it was because another stronger flock of folk came by, smashed all the statues and temples, and forced upon them a different p.o.v.
"Catholicism crumbles due to an overwhelming and monumental mass collective disdain for its leaders." That would be precious. Where do I sign?
I can't imagine that an enlightened holy man like Jesus REALLY had in mind the Catholic Church (or the televangelists, for that matter, or fundies, for THAT matter!) when he went around, preaching love, redemption, and grace. There is too much hate, too much judgment, too much podium pounding, fingers pointing, and not enough understanding, cooperation, and not enough compassion and love. Those things don't sufficiently fill coffers to feed the hungry monster of greed.
And here I thought Christianity was here to help us rise above our secular, more base habits, and strive to think on a higher plane, a spiritual plane, to look beyond ourselves and act with love and compassion toward one another. What did they put in my wine?
However, the rise of microcredit, living standards, education and family planning in Third World countries--not to mention the increase in the total Muslim population--will chip away at both poverty, disease, and the Church's hold on many people in Africa and Asia. Already we're seeing a change in behavior in some strongly Catholic countries; a couple of weeks ago, Portugal was seriously considering repealing its criminalization of abortion, and some South/Central American countries permit abortion as well as divorce. (But not all--I believe a proposed law in Honduras to allow abortion in cases of rape or incest was shot down by the electorate).
As for my friend, he left the Church for his own reasons. Yet he spoke longingly of a western hemisphere schism, saying that if the Church became truly progressive and humble, he would go back to it. At one time he wanted to become a Franciscan monk, in spite of--or maybe because of--having served in the Navy during Gulf War I.
--Kris
He is, rather, a bitchily magnificent, arrogant, obnoxiously pampered old queen with a righteous attitude. Do not disparage my Sir Elton.
--Kris
P.S. Yes, I am a lifelong fan. Why d'ya ask? ;)
Well, that shows how much I know. ::blushes in embarrassment:: Sorry!
--Kris
Regardless of his foolishness, religion will never be banned for the Queen herself will never ban religion as she herself believes in God, and frankly, if I were in the same room with Elton John, he would have a lot more than he could handle!
Hateful Lemmings?
This from a man who has a knack for controversy and who was childish enough to slander Madonna at an awards ceremony!
If is wasn't for God and Christ, I wouldn't be here today.
I think Elton has bit off more than he can chew because many people, including some of his fans, are religious and I doubt they'll take kindly to him slandering THEIR religion.
Elton John, you will be judged for your blasphemous comments.
http://www.wral.com/news/10312479/detail.html
Basically the Baptists here in NC are comparing gay people to thieves and murderers.